Nightmares
and Recurring Dreams

The best way to understand why we
have nightmares is to think of nightmares as an early warning system or
an alarm that alerts us that something is wrong in our lives and is
hurting us, and we need to focus our attention on it & fix the
problems so we can overcome them and be happier. Being human, we don't
always pay attention to the subtle hints or little nudges that we need
to do something, keep procrastinating instead of tackling the problems,
or we are so preoccupied with other matters that we miss big issues that
are about to blind-side us in our lives, so that's when nightmares occur
to help alert us so we can avoid a disastrous outcome caused by
emotional blocks or situations in our lives that we are not moving past
or even recognizing.

Some nightmares are like practice sessions that test our abilities
and outlook on a given issue, to prepare us for going through a painful
lesson in life such as the break-up of a relationship, loss of a loved
one, fears of death, loss of health; any number of situations. At first
the nightmares on these issues are a shock, but as we get used to the
issues they are pointing out and change our perception or get inspired
to learn new ways of handling painful issues, the nightmares lessen in
their severity and we achieve a sense of inner peace or calm.

Nightmares are like a last ditch effort to scream for your attention.
There's nothing like a heart-pounding, terrifying nightmare to get our
attention and say, "Hey! What's going on, here? I don't understand what
this is about, and I need to know so I stop having these nightmares!"
That's when I usually hear from people who are seeking help to get past
this point, and once they understand the underlying issues that are
symbolized in their nightmares, they then discover which steps to take
next. Nightmares are actually helpful, in the same way that physical
pain alerts us that something is wrong with our bodies and needs
healing, nightmares are a helpful warning or alert to us that our
emotional and mental state has a glitch that needs work and healing to
get past, because it's somehow making our lives harder and more painful.

Dreams prepare you for current and future events in your waking life.
They also point out to you areas in your life that need to be healed, or
worked upon. Nightmares are usually your deepest fears symbolized by
frightening, horrifying images. If you learn to face your fears instead
of running away or ignoring them, then the nightmares will disappear or
evolve into regular non-threatening images. Nightmares are your wake-up
call to problems you need to solve in waking life. Why are they so
frightening or graphic? Because that's what most effectively gets our
attention.

Unfortunately, we don't usually
pay attention until our dreams get to this point, and then we sit
up and take notice. It's similar to the way in which we pay attention to
our bodies...pain may be unpleasant, but we finally realize that there
is a health problem or injury that needs to be tended to, and then take
care of it. The pain may start out
mild, but the longer we ignore the problem, the worse it gets until we
simply must take care of the problem. It's the same situation
with dreams; we may get numerous messages in regular, non-frightening
dreams, but not pay attention. Finally, when the situation gets to a
vital point in which a problem must be taken care of pronto, we will get
the nightmare. One of my favorite quotes is this:

The Fates lead
him who will; him who won't, they DRAG!

Once you get used to paying
attention to more subtle messages in regular dreams, you won't have to
be "hit over the head" with a nightmare to clue into a problem, and take
care of it. In this way, just as pain helps you avert a more serious
physical disaster, nightmares prevent a problem in your waking life from
getting advanced to the point of not being able to fix it.

You can learn helpful techniques
for conquering your nightmares by finding information on dream symbols
and learning how to interpret your dreams, so you can start learning
without having to be "hit over the head" with a nightmare. I have been
"dragged" plenty in life, and I finally started learning to clue in
earlier to what my dreams were telling me, and I must say I feel much
more in-tune with my intuition and what is going on in my life ever
since. It clears away a lot of the confusion.

Recurring
Dreams

Recurring dreams are similar
to dream themes, except that in dream themes the dream itself can
change, while in a true recurring dream or nightmare, the dream
narrative is always the same or nearly identical. This is pointing out
something very important for you to "get" and understand, and usually
recurs during triggering events in your life that the dream represents.
For instance, if the dream represents fear of abandonment, and all of a
sudden you & your spouse are having marital difficulties, then this
dream could recur. Same thing if a spouse or loved one dies or moves
away--those events could also trigger the dream to recur. What seems
like a nuisance or unpleasant nightmare is really a helpful signal to
you that there is an issue that's deeply bothering you and needs to be
brought to the surface and fully healed. Once this is done, the
recurring dream will either evolve or disappear from your dreams
altogether. If you find the dream or nightmare getting WORSE instead of
better, you are getting a stronger message to correct the issue it
represents before it becomes a much bigger problem in your life, and I
wouldn't suggest ignoring that message, if I were you!